3 incumbents, 1 challenger vying for 3 trustee seats in Orland Park

April 03, 2013|By Ashley Rueff, Chicago Tribune reporter

(Tribune illustration)

Voters in Orland Park next week will need to decide if they want to support three longtime village trustees for re-election or support the lone challenger, whose election would surely change the dynamics of the Village Board.

Trustees James Dodge, Kathy Fenton and Brad O'Halloran are all hoping to retain their seats by fending off Republican John Fotopoulos in the April 9 election. Mayor Dan McLaughlin is running for re-election unopposed, while newcomer John Mehalek is running unopposed for village clerk. Clerk David Maher is not seeking re-election.

Dodge, Fenton and O'Halloran are running together as members of the First Orland Party, along with McLaughlin and Mehalek.

Dodge, 50, a 27-year-resident of the village who has served as an elected official since 1989, said he still loves public service and working toward bettering his community.

"I think we've built a great town, a great hometown," he said.

Dodge, who works as vice president of retail consulting and analytics for The Nielsen Co., points to the revitalization of Orland Park Place, formerly known as "the dead mall," as one of his proudest accomplishments as a trustee.

"It's now a thriving center, and that TIF district worked out exactly as we had hoped," he said. "I'm very proud of that."

He also cited the village's efforts to improve major roadways and intersections, which he said have helped drive economic development in town. If re-elected, he said his priority would be to expand lines of communications between the village and residents.

"We needed to take full advantage of all of the many different ways that we have to listen to our residents," he said.

In turn, he said using more forms of technology should help lower expenses as the village tries to find smarter ways to work.

He also expects the downtown development to be a "centerpiece" of focus for the village in coming years. Now that the Ninety7Fifty on the Park project is making progress, he expects others will soon follow.

While residents often ask him why the village agreed to help finance the luxury apartment complex, Dodge said when he has the opportunity to explain the details, they seem to understand.

"I think people are really starting to understand the value of the project long term," he said.

As for challenges ahead of Orland Park, Dodge said the state's poor management of its own operations has the potential to trickle down to communities that rely on certain funds from the state.

Fenton, 61, an Orland Park resident since 1978, works as a speech pathologist for Cook County School District 130 in Blue Island. A trustee since 1993, she said she wants to continue serving with her fellow officials to work toward maintaining a community that's a good fit for every demographic.

"There's something here for everyone," she said.

While on the board, Fenton said she has been the driving force behind creating and growing the annual Farmer's Market into a popular community event.

"It was trying to bring the community back to, I guess you could say, the good old days," she said.

She also started a flag contest to create a new village flag about 15 years ago and has been involved in the Open Lands initiative and chaired the Recreation Committee when the village's Sportsplex opened.

If re-elected, Fenton said she wants to push for more commercial development, such as medical buildings and light industry, along the Interstate Highway 80 corridor.

"We need to diversify that," she said. "Not only are you diversifying your tax base, but you're offering more jobs, which is key."

To encourage development, she said the village also needs to continue to improve roads and transportation with projects like the widening of La Grange Road.

"I know some of our empty spaces there, I know (businesses) are just waiting for La Grange to be completed," she said.

She sees the biggest challenge facing Orland Park as miscommunications between officials and the public.

"There's so much miscommunication that I think it's very important that we try to figure out a better avenue of communication with our residents," she said.

Citing the downtown apartment complex, she said she doesn't think many residents know the specifics of the financing plan but seem to warm to the concept after she goes over it with them.

Fotopoulos, 42, is making his third attempt to gain a seat on the Village Board after unsuccessful runs in 2011 and 2001. He has been an outspoken critic of the village's financing of the downtown apartment complex.

"One of my first priorities is to get a hold of the 143rd Street apartment complex and make sure that this type of thing doesn't happen again," he said.

While he is supportive of the village's plan to develop a downtown area, he said officials should have targeted retail and restaurant developers before residential and should not have used public funds to help finance a private development.